GRATERFORD — Throughout his half century of directing a juggernaut Phoenixville boys tennis program, coach Leo Scoda has always had a knack for coming up with successful doubles teams.

During both the regular season matches and then in postseason competition, strong doubles tandems have been a trademark of and a pivotal factor involved in the heights the Phantoms reached during the last 50 years under Scoda’s guidance.

The year 2013 proved to be no different in Phoenixville. It certainly was clearly evident in this weekend’s Pioneer Athletic Conference Doubles Championships at Perkiomen Valley.

Phoenixville advanced both of its entries to the finals of the two-day tournament. On Saturday morning, Phoenixville’s second duo of seniors Jeff Potts and Ryan Cadigan triumphed over the Phantoms’ first team of senior Chris Walsh and sophomore Luke Lombardi, 6-4, 6-0, to claim the PAC-10 championship.

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“I am thrilled for the kids with the way we ended this year,” said Scoda. “I am so proud of all of them. It is quite an accomplishment.”

Potts and Cadigan were the Phantoms’ No. 1 doubles team throughout the spring but were seeded eighth in the tournament. Walsh and Lombardi played singles but were put together for the doubles assignment and drew a third seed.

Potts and Cadigan survived a stiff test from Perkiomen Valley’s fourth-seeded unit of Yashveer Singh and Luke Pain during the semifinals. The Phantoms won by a score of 6-4, 7-6 (11-9).

The Vikings’ Singh and Pain were the fourth seeds.

In the other semifinal match, Walsh and Lombardi stopped Spring-Ford’s Joey Graziadei and John Gracie, 6-3, 6-4. Graziadei and Gracie, both seniors for coach John Brennan’s PAC-10 team champion Rams, were the second seeds in the tourney and wound up placing third with a 7-6 (7-0), 6-1 victory over Perkiomen Valley in the consolation match.

The top three finishers earned berths in next weekend’s District 1 Doubles Tournament at Healthplex.

“Chris and Luke are great guys and always fun to play against,” said Potts. “They have a good attitude. It was a hard-fought match. We played well and got the job done.”

Potts and Cadigan finished 6-0 in league play as a tandem and continued their strong performances at the tournament.

“We focused on being more solid than the other team,” said Potts. “Doubles is who can be the most solid. Ryan and I have played togehter for about eight years. We feel really comfortable, which is really nice. We know each other and we have the other person’s back if we miss a shot. The other person is there to back up. We had a really great season with a lot of success, and I am definitely thrilled.”

The Phantoms lost three close league matches to begin the year, but they stuck together and strung together five straight victories to close out the season at a respectable 5-3 and in fourth place in the final team standings.

“That says a lot about our team,” said Potts. “After losing those three big matches, we won the next five. The team did well as a whole.”

“We just figured out what we needed to do,” said Cadigan. “I think we got into their heads a little bit and we played well. This is our first PAC-10 championship. We’ll be looking forward to districts. We can’t celebrate yet.”

The finals first set was tied at 1-all, 2-all, 3-all and 4-all before Potts and Cadigan prevailed. Cadigan held service to make it 5-4 with the Phantoms taking the game on a point at 40-15. Game 10 went to deuce before Potts and Cadigan completed the set verdict.

The second set showed much more control by Potts and Cadigan. Potts served the first game and the duo took the lead by scoring a winner at 40-30. Potts and cadigan broke serve in game two by securing the decisive point at 30-40. The third game was tied at 30 and extended to deuce before Potts and cadigan established their 3-0 lead.

A service break allowed the Phantoms to seize the match, which ended in just 45 minutes.

“We never played doubles before and they played together all year,” said Walsh. “That definitely is a big plus. They know where each other are. We played well in the first match and came out against them a little sloppy and not taking it as serious as we should have. We were not in sync. There were a lot of games at deuce where they scored. They were able to get nice placement on points they needed. That definitely helps.”

“We struggled at the net,” added Lombardi. “We let them dominate the net.”

Potts and Cadigan assumed momentum with a big quarterfinal match victory Friday against Methacton’s top-seeded team of Justin Baman and Chris Lawley. That was a tough three-set encounter that ended with Phoenixville winning 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.